Arriving at the Altar of the Sunne, Terrance walked around the area. Although there were many strange buildings and mysterious-looking patterns, to Terrance, they were as incomprehensible as a heavenly book—he couldn’t make much sense of them at all.
“Rotom Pokédex, take pictures of anything that looks even the slightest bit unusual.”
“Snap-snap-snap-snap~~” Rotom Pokédex darted around erratically.
Terrance stayed at the Altar of the Sunne for quite some time, but he didn’t make any particular discoveries. As for information about the Altar of the Sunne, he still had to rely on the Rotom Pokédex. It contained a lot of data on the Alola region, though Terrance wasn’t sure whether any of it would be useful to him.
“If the Altar of the Sunne corresponds to Solgaleo, and the Altar of the Moone corresponds to Lunala, then what about Necrozma?”
Necrozma, a Legendary Pokémon far more mysterious than Solgaleo and Lunala, had far fewer records, even though Terrance had access to a large amount of data—both public and secret. It was as if records about Necrozma had been deliberately erased by someone, leaving them incomplete and fragmented.
“If Necrozma appeared during the same era as Solgaleo and Lunala, then why isn’t it well known among the people of the Alola region?”
“If it was once recorded, then who was it that erased those records?”
Terrance shook his head. Although he saw many buildings at the Altar of the Sunne that appeared mysterious just from their exteriors, without understanding the history behind them, the superficial things on the surface alone couldn’t provide any valuable information.
Some of these things had already been recorded in the Rotom Pokédex, and now Terrance had personally come here and spent a long time observing the place. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much significant gain.
After this, Terrance planned to head over to the Altar of the Moone to have a look. However, before he and Altaria could set off, a figure slowly approaching from a distance caused Terrance’s brows to twitch slightly.
Totem Kommo-o—this guy again.
Although the matchup was very unfavorable for Arcanine, Terrance didn’t mind. The experience gained from battling Totem Kommo-o was far greater than the combined experience from Arcanine’ dozens of other battles.
“Alright then, let’s do this.” Terrance took out Arcanine’s Poké Ball from his waist and walked toward Kommo-o without taking his eyes off it.
…
In the blink of an eye, a week had passed.
During this week, Terrance stayed entirely in Vast Poni Canyon. Rather than for research, the reason he remained was actually because of Totem Kommo-o.
No matter what, Arcanine simply refused to admit defeat—but after every battle, it was left covered in wounds.
Going to and from the Pokémon Center twice a day, Nurse Joy began to suspect that Terrance might be a va*tard who abused his Pokémon on purpose.
After it happened enough times, even though she was an outsider, Nurse Joy couldn’t help but step in and question what Terrance was doing. Fortunately, Terrance held the official identity of a Gym Leader and carried an Island Challenge Amulet. On top of that, Arcanine’s impressive recovery ability had been witnessed firsthand by Nurse Joy. Only then did she believe that Terrance and Arcanine were truly undergoing special training.
Even so, Nurse Joy repeatedly warned Terrance not to push things too far. Helpless, Terrance could only nod and promise over and over again.
But… that still didn’t change the fact that Terrance and Arcanine visited the Pokémon Center every single day. Over time… Nurse Joy gradually got used to it. As their visits increased, Arcanine’s recovery speed also became faster and faster—until eventually, Nurse Joy had nothing left to say.
Terrance could see Arcanine’s progress each day, but when it came to his research, even after nearly touching every inch of the altar over the past few days, he had made pitifully little progress.
“Huh?”
Returning once again to the altar area of Vast Poni Canyon, Terrance frowned. Compared to before, something about today felt… different.
“What’s going on with that group of people?”
It was a group of people dressed in white lab coats. Leading them was a woman with light purple hair, who was currently directing them as they drove away a colony of Jangmo-o. It was unclear what they were trying to do.
“Where’s Kommo-o?”
Even though Kommo-o kept some distance from the Jangmo-o, it was supposed to be silently watching over them from somewhere nearby.
This group was openly driving out the Jangmo-o colony—weren’t they afraid that Totem Kommo-o would come and cause trouble?
“If it’s not around at this time, they might be safe for now—but once Kommo-o comes back, they probably won’t meet a good end…” Terrance hesitated for a moment, then as he got closer, realized he might have misunderstood something.
“Rotom Pokédex,” Terrance called out.
“Bzzt-bzzt, Roto is here!” Rotom Pokédex flew out.
“Scan their uniforms.”
“99%… 100%… Scan complete. They are… the Aether Foundation.”
Aether Foundation?
The Aether Foundation is a public welfare and research organization based in the Alola region. Its core mission is to protect injured Pokémon and maintain ecological balance. Their headquarters was located on an artificial island in the Alola region called “Aether Paradise.”
Terrance was no stranger to this organization—during the few years Master Victor spent in Alola, he had assisted them in researching the “Ultra Beasts.”
Just as Terrance was deciding whether or not to step out, a furious roar rang out. A massive figure suddenly charged forward, releasing a wave of light that blocked the Aether Foundation personnel.
Totem Kommo-o!
Terrance stopped in his tracks. Seeing the enraged Kommo-o, he realized things wouldn’t end so easily. Regardless of the Aether Foundation’s intentions, the first priority was to calm this Totem down.
“Kommo-o, stop attacking for now.”
Seeing the Aether Foundation employees scattered by Kommo-o’s assault, Terrance immediately stepped out and called loudly to Kommo-o.
Upon seeing Terrance, Kommo-o was clearly startled. After a week of battling with Terrance’s Arcanine, it had become somewhat familiar with him. It didn’t dislike this human who shared Potions with it after battles. As for the Arcanine that was clearly weaker than itself but still gave everything it had in each fight—Totem Kommo-o held great respect for it.
“There might be a misunderstanding here,” Terrance said as he hurried over.
In its first attack, Kommo-o had merely tried to intimidate, using a shockwave to drive the Aether Foundation personnel back. The Jangmo-o were still over on the other side—Totem Kommo-o hadn’t acted too ruthlessly yet.
But Terrance had no doubt: if the situation escalated, Totem Kommo-o would go berserk.
“Thank you, but…” A gentle female voice suddenly interrupted Terrance. The light-purple-haired woman he had seen earlier now slowly walked over and said, “Let me handle the explanation to Kommo-o.”
Beside her was a Kirlia. At this moment, Kirlia was using Telepathy to serve as a translator, seemingly explaining something to Totem Kommo-o.
As Kirlia spoke, Totem Kommo-o’s expression gradually softened, and in the end, it slowly revealed a friendly gaze.
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